SPEECHREADING 101 (.

1 CEU)

11-14-13
ASHA Conference Seal, Wilson,
& Gaul
Chicago, IL ASHA 2013
Instructor: Brenda C. Seal, Ph.D., CCC-SLP
Office: 3201 SLLC, Gallaudet University
Department of Hearing, Speech,
and Language Sciences

Grad Assistants: Nichelle Wilson, AuD Student

Erin Gaul, SLP Student
Email: brenda.seal@gallaudet.edu
Office Hrs: 8:00 pm at the bar

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 Disclaimer Statements:
No financial ties beyond:
Dr. Seal’s salary from Gallaudet University;
HSL 210, Speechreading, is part of the teaching
load.
Erin Gaul and Nichelle Wilson received travel
support from the Graduate Student Association
at Gallaudet University.
 Course Description:
This course is designed for both oral/aural
students and those who use sign language as a
primary communication mode. Students will gain
an understanding of the principles and
techniques of speechreading and have the
opportunity to improve their receptive
communication skills. The course explores
analytical and synthetic approaches to
speechreading, effective communication
approaches, and strategies used to maximize
receptive communication abilities. Seal et al.
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Evidence Based Practices

Seal et al.
Professional research ASHA 2013
 Learner Outcomes:
Students should leave this course, able to:
• Define speechreading and associated
terminology
• Identify common strategies that facilitate
speechreading and contrast them with
situations that make speechreading difficult
• Explain how speechreading parallels reading
fingerspelling
• Show progress in meeting speechreading goals
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 Lecture 1: Speechreading Basics

Terminology
Definitions
The What’s, Who’s, When’s, Where’s,
Why’s and How’s of Speechreading
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What is it?
The improved recognition of spoken language
and sign language from visible movements of
the face, mouth, and supportive gestures (Seal)
The integration of visual information with
auditory information for enhanced under-
standing of speech (Sumby & Pollack, 1954; Tye-
Murray et al., 2010)
Also referred to as lipreading, “the perception of
speech by interpreting visually available
movements of the face, mouth, and tongue”
(Feld & Sommers, 2009, p. 1555). Seal, et al.
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 When and where do we do it?
In all face-to-face human communication (here
and now)

In degraded (and altered) auditory settings

(noisy restaurants, sports arenas, with
individuals who have different dialects)

In degraded (and altered) visual settings (large

classrooms, poor lighting, with 2-dimensional
viewings, like watching TV) Seal et al.
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 And, possibly,
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Our vigilance to the

speaker’s visual (and
auditory) communication of
that message is raised

In settings/situations when our

comfort with the cognitive load
of the communication message
Is lowered.
 Who does it?
Everybody:
hearing, hard-of-hearing, and deaf

Between 4 and 8 months of age, typically-developing

infants shift their focus from a speaker’s eyes to the
speaker’s mouth (and eyes), returning to the
speaker’s eyes at around 12 months of age.
This gaze shift is believed to have an important role
in the audiovisual foundations of the speech signal or
the beginnings of speechreading. This gaze shift is
also observed across all ages when the auditory
signal is obscured or degraded (Lewkowicz & Hansen-
Tift, 2012).
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 How do we do it?
Just like we read text and different handwriting:
Mary’s father dropped off a bucket of potatoes.
Mary’s father dropped off a bucket of potatoes.
Mary’s father dropped off a bucket of potatoes.
Mary’s father dropped off a bucket
of potatoes.

Just like we read fingerspelling:

M-A-R-Y (HER) FATHER DROPPED-OFF A ______
O-F POTATO ________.
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Mary’s father dropped off a bucket of tomatoes.

Barry’s father dropped off a bucket of potatoes.

Perry’s mother dropped a bucket of rutabagas.

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 We use “The 3 Cs”
Context: the language
the topic, setting, register, familiarity of
communication partners

Configuration: articulatory shapes or (more

accurately) coarticulatory shape change

Cloze: the brain’s ability to “read between the

lines,” to capitalize on context and
configuration for comprehension Seal et al.
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Speechreading requires the eyes
(and ears) but meaning occurs in
the brain.

Linguistic knowledge is necessary

for speechreading.

Speechreading requires
linguistic literacy.
Lecture 2: Where’s the evidence to support
speechreading and speechreading training?
To date: no experimental research with
randomly assigned participants, no meta-
analysis of the literature.
Descriptive reports suggest:
1. Speechreading performance varies broadly
across individuals (children and adults, those
with hearing loss and those with normal
hearing [Erber, 1969; Lyxell & Holmberg,
2000]; males and females, and across
education levels [Dancer et al., 1994]). Seal et al.
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2. Young adults (avg. age = 21) perform better
than older adults (avg. age = 76) on measures
of speechreading (Feld & Sommers, 2009).
3. Speechreading performance declines in aging
(commensurate with decreased visual acuity
and auditory acuity) such that word
recognition declines from 6% to 13% per
decade beyond 60 yrs. of age (Sommers et
al., 2005).
4. Speechreading performance appears to
be influenced (predicted) by several
cognitive tasks that also diminish in aging:
1. working memory (especially spatial
word memory on a computer screen)
2. processing speed (classification tasks
on a computer screen) (Feld & Sommers,
2009).
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5. “It remains unclear whether and
how this [speechreading] ability can be
significantly improved with training”
(Richie & Kewley-Port, 2008, p. 1607).
 Auditory-Visual Integration
Spoken language is both auditory and visual.
Spoken language is NOT just an auditory
language; it is very much a visual language.
Individuals with normal hearing and individuals
with hearing loss rely on the integration of
auditory and visual representations of spoken
language to derive meaning.
Lecture 3: Assessment to determine if
training makes a difference
1. Assess at a perceived level (self- or
caregiver- or observer as informant):

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 Reliance on and Success at Speechreading
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________

R1 R2 R3 R4 R5
None 0% Minimal 25% Moderate: 50% A lot: 75% Totally Reliant: 100%

S1 S2 S3 S4 S5
Not 0% Minimal 25% Moderate: 50% Good: 75% Very Good: 100%
____________________________________________________________________
Important to improving your speechreading skills is personal
awareness of how well you do in different settings and with
different individuals. Choose 3 different settings/3 different
individuals, and rate your reliance on and success with
speechreading.
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 Seal et al.

2. At an analytical level: ASHA, 2013

The Word Intelligibility by Picture Identification

The Craig Speechreading Test: Words and
Sentences—closed set pictures
The Iowa Build-a-Sentence Test (2008): Closed set,
varied levels of difficulty
Seeing and Hearing Speech: vowels, consonants,
syllables, words
The Binnie Viseme Test: viseme groups
Each sentence has one of four syntactic
structures and includes two to four words
from a closed set of 36 words

The _______ watched the ______.

The _______ watched the ______ and the ______.
The _______ and the ______ watched the ______.
The _______ and the ______ watched the ______ and the ______.

bear cat deer fawn geese men saint team whale

bird cook dog fish girls mice seal toad wife
boys cop dove fox goat mole snail tribe wolf
bug cow duck frog guest moose son troop worm
 Seal et al.
3. At a synthetic level: ASHA, 2013

The CID Everyday Sentences

The CUNY Lipreading Test

Visual Tracking or
Continuous Narration, Monologue, or
Discourse Tracking
 Continuous Discourse Tracking
Connected Discourse Tracking

• Mimics characteristics of a lecture, story, or

conversation
• Requires a prepared text, but can move to
spontaneous conversations
• Usually combines both V and A for “best”
situation but can occur in quiet or noise
 Continuous Discourse Tracking (%
accuracy in repeating the sentences)
Story 1: My Dog
When I was a little girl, I had a pet dog. My dog was very smart, and I
taught him to do many tricks. He could sit up, roll over, and bring in
the newspaper. When anyone knocked on the door, the dog would
bark and wag his tail. If he wanted to go outside for a walk, he would
stand on his back legs and put his paws on the doorknob.
# of words repeated _____ / 72 words total = __________%

Story 2: Swimming Lessons

A group of boys and girls are taking swimming lessons. They are
learning the front crawl, back crawl, breast stroke, and side stroke.
They go for two hours every morning, except Saturdays and Sundays,
for three weeks. On the last day, they will be given a test, and if they
pass the test, they will receive a certificate.
# of words repeated _____ /58 words total = __________%
4. At a distracted, degraded, or difference
level:
• Any previous test (or test form) in competing noise:
Two-talker conversation, multi-talker babble, street
noise, music
With and without amplification
With or without audible voice
• Any previous test with degraded vision:
Poor lighting (reduced light, increased glare)
Talker interference (hands around mouth, excessive
facial hair, chewing gum/eating, etc.)
• Any previous test with unfamiliar test administrators
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 Pre-Instruction Scores
Students 01 M 02 F 03 F 04 M 05 F CI
CIs HAs HAs HAs ELL
Craig Speechreading Test: 79 94 91 85 67
Sentences

CID Everyday Sentences 96 94 95 100 15

Iowa Build-a-Sentence Test 83 96 88 100 92

Continuous Visual Tracking 95 94 95 91 11

Test
Binnie Viseme Test 86 96 86 84 80
 Pre-Instruction Scores
100

90

80

70

60
Percentage

50

40

30

20

10

0
CID BAS Craig Sentences Binnie Visual tracking
Test
 Individual Goals or Targets
On the Midterm exam:
I will improve my speechreading skills by _______
(Choose your top 5 preferences)
___Working on vocabulary from my difficult courses.
___Working on phrases my hearing friends use.
___Working on sentences from texting conversations.
___Working on paragraphs from my most difficult courses.
___Working on speech sounds that give me trouble (e.g., l, r, k, g, ng, h)
___Working on words that look the same on the mouth (e.g., prevent, befriend)
___Working with computer programs and internet exercises
___Working with different speakers (not just my classmates)
___Working in different noise conditions
___Working in different light conditions
Anything else you’d like to work on? ___________________________________
 Lecture 4: Speechreading Training
• Training across meaningful language:
Academic language, social language, personal interests
With multiple speakers: Various dialects, ages, across
varying hearing levels (including deaf speakers)
• Training at an analytical level:
Stress patterns, consonant combinations, new words
e.g., rebel and rebel, present and present, contract and
contract, content and content, etc.
• Training at a synthetic level: Seal et al.
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Personal anecdotes, short paragraphs, textbook
readings, video-recorded speakers/VLOGs
 Group or Individual Activities
• Value in both
• But as we customize the material for their
goals, the activities become more individual.

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 With or without audition?
With or without signing?
With or without print?

We encourage the students to use all their

resources, including their hearing and their
signing. Seal et al.
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Speechreading Training

And we give homework:

Trying to bridge the activities from our class to other
classrooms or academic interactions
And their personal interactions
And their experiences with media or 2-dimensional
communication

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Seal et al.
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Sample Analytical
• Quiero que trabajar.
Activity

Trabajar Soy • Me gusta tu vestido.

Mirar Vamos
Feo Clase • Tengo dos gatos.
Alto Vestido
Tengo Manos
• Mis manos son sucios.
Estoy Hablar

• El chico es muy alto.

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 Hi R.
Words from It's Nichelle, from your
Accounting Class speechreading class. I'm
reminding you to email me some
Assets familiar words from your
Balancing accounting class. It can be 5-6
accounting words that your
Disbursement teacher has been using in class this
Expenses semester.
Gross Pay
Please send them by Monday, to
Net Pay give me a chance to make
Deficits sentences with the words, for your
Tuesday class.
Interest
Deduction Thanks and have a good weekend!
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Sample Synthetic Activity
(Visual Tracking)

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 Post-Instruction Scores

Visual Tracking
Test

BAS
March
May

CID

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

Percentage
 References
Seal et al.
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Bonino, A. Y., Leibold, L. J., & Buss, E. (2012). Release from perceptual masking for
children and adults: Benefit of a carrier phrase. Ear & Hearing, 34, 3-14.
Boothroyd, A., Hanin, L., & Hnath-Chisolm, T. (1985). A sentence test of speech
perception: Reliability, set equivalence, and short-term learning (Internal Report
RCI 10). NY: City University of New York.
Dancer, J., Krain, M., Thompson, C., Davis, P., & Glen, J. (1994). A cross-sectional
investigation of speechreading in adults: Effects of age, gender, practice, and
education. Volta Review, 96, 31-40.
Erber, N. (1969). Interaction of audition and vision in the recognition of oral speech
stimuli. Journal of Speech and Hearing Research, 12, 423-425.
Feld, J. E., & Sommers, M. S. (2009). Lipreading, processing speed, and working
memory in younger and older adults. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing
Research, 52, 1555-1565.
Gosselin, P. A., & Gagne, J.-P. (2011). Older adults expend more listening effort than
young adults recognizing speech in noise. Journal of Speech, Language, and
Hearing Research, 54, 944-958.
Lewkowicz, D. J., & Hansen-Tift, A. M. (2012). Infants deploy selective attention to the
mouth of a talking face when learning speech. Proceedings of the National
Academy of Sciences, 109, 1431-1436.
Lyxell, B., & Holmberg, I. (2000). Visual speechreading and cognitive performance in
hearing-impaired and normal hearing children (11-14 years). British Journal of
Educational Psychology, 70, 505-518.
 Seal et al.
References ASHA, 2013

Preminger, J. E., Hwei-Bing, L., Payen, M., & Levitt, H. (1998). Selective visual
masking in speechreading. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing
Research, 41, 564-575.
Richie, C., & Kewley-Port, D. (2008). The effects of audio-visual vowel
identification training on speech recognition under difficult listening
conditions. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 51, 1607.
Sommers, M., Tye-Murray, N., & Spehar, B. (2005). Auditory-visual speech
perception and auditory-visual speech enhancement in normal hearing
younger and older adults. Ear & Hearing, 26, 263-275.
Sumby, W. H., & Pollack, I. (1954). Visual contribution to speech intelligibility in
noise. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 26, 212-215.
Tye-Murray, N., Sommers, M., Spehar, B. (2007). The effects of age and gender
on lipreading abilities. Journal of the American Academy of Audiology, 18,
882-892.
Tye-Murray, N., Sommers, M., Spehar, B., Myerson, J., & Hale, S. (2010). Aging,
audiovisual integration and the principle of inverse effectiveness. Ear &
Hearing, 31, 636-644.
 Thank you for attending!
For a fun look at the McGurk effect and political
humor, see:
www.badlipreading.com
Questions?
Final Exam:
1. Define speechreading. How is it alike/different from
reading fingerspelling? Reading handwriting?
2. What evidence is there that infants use speechreading
3. What are the 3Cs of speechreading?
4. What do we know from the research literature about
the impact of aging on speechreading?
5. What cognitive skills appear to predict speechreading
skills?
6. Identify an analytical speechreading test.
7. Identify a synthetic speechreading test.
9. Explain the value of self assessment in speechreading.
10. Rate your own learning from this course.